


She Said What?

by daneicole



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: F/F, Other mentioned relationships are really minor lol, Post-Black Eagles Route (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-22
Updated: 2020-12-22
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:54:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,590
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28237284
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/daneicole/pseuds/daneicole
Summary: There was something Edelgard said at the Goddess Tower that had Byleth thinking.
Relationships: Dorothea Arnault/Petra Macneary, Edelgard von Hresvelg/My Unit | Byleth, Ferdinand von Aegir/Hubert von Vestra, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 81





	She Said What?

It hadn’t been more than several days since Byleth gave her father's ring to Edelgard, and there was something about the whole event that had continuously bugged her until recently. Having little to no knowledge on how to work out whatever it was that had been nagging at her thoughts, Byleth figured she had to ask someone for a bit of counsel.

The first person she had in mind was Dorothea, and off she went to the drawing room at the eastern side of the palace, where the songstress often lounged. She hoped that Edelgard was not with the Dorothea at the moment, for her questions involved the Emperor. Sure enough, she found her sitting at the couch, enjoying idle conversation over tea with Petra. The two women took notice of their professor's presence, and Dorothea invited her to join them for tea.

“I was meaning to ask you about something, Dorothea,” Byleth said as she sat.

“And what might that be, Byleth?” Dorothea inquired with a slight wince, as she was still not used to calling the former professor by her own name.

“When I gave El my father's ring, she called me her 'dearest friend’. I don’t know what to make of it.”

Both women were taken aback with confusion at what their professor told them. But this confusion did not stay long.

“Edie called you her 'dearest friend',” Dorothea repeated.

“Yes, and I don’t know what to make of it. She is more than just a friend to me, and I gave her the ring, you see. She wore it on her left ring finger, and that means she has accepted my proposal. That means she also sees me more than a friend and that we are on the same page. Why would she suddenly call me her 'dearest friend'?”

Dorothea could barely hold in a giggle at what was currently unfolding in front of her. She masked her attempts at hiding her smile by taking sips from her tea.

“Byleth, believe me when I say that all is right with you and Edie,” she told the professor.

Byleth blinked, perplexed at Dorothea’s assurance. “How so?”

Dorothea took a moment to glance at Petra and then reached out for the professor's arm, give it a gentle squeeze. “We all know that Edie is not one to just outwardly show what she really feels. One has to get into a hell of a conversation with her just so she can properly express what’s in her mind.”

“Do I just…talk to her, then? See what she really meant?”

Dorothea sighed. “Yes, that would be a great approach.”

Byleth wrung her hands and frowned. “Ah, now that I think about it, I've disrupted your tea time. I could have done this on my own.”

Dorothea chuckled. “Don’t worry yourself over that now. It's good that you sought us out, given that everything around you must feel very much new with an actual beating heart and all. We'd be happy to help you out with anything that you may find confusing or curious. It's like paying back for all the lessons you've taught us.”

Byleth paused as if she was slowly digesting the counsel she received from Dorothea. She then nodded at the two and stood up from her seat.

“She’s probably still in her office,” Byleth said. “I’ll take my leave. Thank you for your time.”

“Do not have worries, Byleth,” Petra cheered.

“Run along now,” Dorothea said as she shooed the professor away in jest. “Get her talking.”

Byleth left the room in haste, and the two women shared a giggle at the sight.

“I swear, she will very much skip her way to Edie's office,” Dorothea said.

“ _Mo mhuirnín_ , correct me if I am wrong but, the professor's problem…it is about miscommunication, yes?” Petra asked.

“Yes, love, so it seems,” Dorothea answered with a light laugh. “Edie really has to work on what she calls her beloved, unless she wants more trouble than she can handle.”

Petra beamed at that. “Byleth, she is now the one asking questions. She is reminding me of who I was when I had more youth.”

“Indeed, you certainly have a lot to ask about almost everything back then,” Dorothea said, grinning as she did.

“And you always have answers to give,” Petra added.

“I do have one question from you that I've grown to like.”

“What would that be?”

Dorothea leaned on the table to properly face the Brigidian princess, her grin now shifted into a coquettish smile. Petra felt a slow rise of heat to her cheeks upon seeing the playful expression on the songstress' face.

“It’s the one where you asked if I'll be coming to Brigid with you,” Dorothea answered with a wink.

\---

Byleth almost missed the door to the Emperor's office during her sprint. She knew there is a chance that Edelgard won't be ready for a conversation, given that there was the seemingly unending plethora of tasks that needed to be settled since the war against Rhea ended. There was also the matter concerning Those Who Slither in the Dark, another beast to contend with.

Once she had reached the door to the office, she readied herself and knocked twice. After hearing her beloved's voice from the other side, Byleth peeked in. She did not miss the sinking feeling within her chest when she saw Hubert and Ferdinand in the office, but she did not let it deter her from fully stepping inside the room. Hubert was the first to acknowledge the professor's presence in the room.

“General Eisner,” Hubert said. “What brings you to the office at this time of the day?”

Edelgard looked up from the papers she was reading as she heard Byleth's name. “Byleth, do you need something?”

“I wanted to talk to you about something, El,” Byleth said.

Ferdinand was quick enough to recognize the sense of urgency within the professor. Judging from the way Byleth's glances shifted from him to Hubert to Edelgard and back again, he reckoned that the professor wanted to talk with the Emperor alone.

“Perhaps we can continue this tomorrow?” Ferdinand suggested. “Hubert and I will work on the rest of the missives and give you a consolidated copy to look over.”

“Wouldn’t that be too much? I can at least work on half of them,” Edelgard countered.

Ferdinand lightly shook his head. “Worry not. We can take it from here. The previous two sets of letters certainly wore you out, don't deny it. You need a break from the sight and smell of parchment and ink.”

Ferdinand looked over at Hubert, who was subtly opposed to putting off the work. Ferdinand tilted his head at the professor, and Hubert quickly understood what was going on. The marquis let out a sigh and resigned to picking up the stack of papers from the desk.

Edelgard had no choice but to pass on the task to her advisors. “Fine, then. But, please, do inform me if you need more hands for the job.”

Ferdinand chuckled at that and wrapped an arm around Hubert's shoulder. “We can do it perfectly fine with just us two, isn't that right, Hubert?”

Hubert shrugged off the arm from his shoulder. “Of course, nothing less from the two of us,” he said wryly. There was a hint of pink across his face, which tickled Byleth’s curiosity. Then again, it was Edelgard that she needed to talk to, and she can inquire about that some other time.

The two left the room soon after, and Byleth was finally alone with the Emperor. Edelgard stood up from the desk to stretch, while Byleth settled on the lounge chair by the window.

“You said you wanted to talk to me about something?” Edelgard said as she removed her gloves—something she does only in the presence of the professor. Jeralt’s ring glistened as the light in the room hit it.

Byleth paused for a moment and began to speak. “El, at the Goddess Tower when I gave you the ring…you said something that I couldn’t wrap my head around.”

Edelgard had thought that Byleth's question would be along the lines of something simply peculiar, and she did not expect that the query she heard just now was of an entirely different matter.

And it gave her an unpleasant feeling.

“Byleth, I—”

“When I gave you the ring, you called me your 'dearest friend'. I gave you the ring because I love you, very much so. While I was very glad that you wore it on your finger, I can’t help but think of what wearing it really meant to you. You called me your dearest friend, and sure you called me other things…yet I am confused because friends don’t usually wear betrothal rings just to say that they are each other’s dearest. What did you really mean—”

“Byleth.”

Silence permeated throughout the room after that. Byleth began to grow uncomfortable with the air in the room, and the regret of saying what she just said creeped within her. Byleth looked away to spare herself from the Emperor’s eyes and settled her gaze on the carpeted floor.

“Y-yes?”

Byleth heard Edelgard's footfalls coming closer towards her, and then she felt the space beside her at the lounge chair sink at the weight as the Emperor sat down.

“Byleth, look at me.” Edelgard’s tone was surprisingly soft, but Byleth can tell that there was a tinge of nervousness that came with it. “It seems I will need to apologize first.”

Byleth shifted her eyes to Edelgard. “What for?”

Edelgard sighed. “I am at fault for not being able to properly convey my feelings, and it extends to the words I say and the names I call.”

“Dorothea did mention that you aren’t one for conventional terms of endearment.”

“I see you’ve sought Dorothea’s counsel for this.”

“Was it not proper?”

“Well, I am not saying that her counsel is not wanted, nor is it improper, but there are times when her advice can be—” Edelgard wiggled her fingers with a slight wince—“Especially when it came to matters of the heart.”

“I was encouraged to talk this out with you, which is something I should have thought of by myself instead of having it suggested by someone else.” Byleth huffed. “Perhaps my head was just muddled with thoughts of you, that I wasn’t able to properly think of it.”

Edelgard felt a rise of heat from her neck. “Do I occupy your musings so often that it causes you to experience a lapse in your thinking?”

“Maybe so. I guess it’s because I just love you too much, El.”

Edelgard frowned as the heat rose to her cheeks. “Byleth.”

“What?”

“How you manage to say these things with a straight face never fails to perplex me.”

“Why? I merely said that I love you too much that my head is filled to the brim with thoughts of you. There’s nothing perplexing about that, is there?”

Edelgard rubbed her temple and groaned. “You have grown very candid in saying what you think and feel ever since your heart started beating.”

“While you’re too closed-off for my liking.”

“Excuse me?”

“El, you could have called me anything else instead of ‘my dearest friend’.”

Edelgard looked down at her clasped hands. “I was going to apologize for that.”

“I don’t think an apology is what’s needed here. An explanation, perhaps?”

“I was about to get to that part when you mentioned Dorothea.”

“Ah, right.”

Edelgard shifted in her seat. “As I was saying, I am not one to easily give pet names. I just couldn’t. Sure, my siblings, and Dorothea more often, would fondly call me with such endearing nicknames, but I couldn’t seem to do it in return. It’s just not in my nature, I suppose.”

“Yet you used to call me ‘my teacher’. Is that not some sort of a pet name?”

“Byleth, you are a teacher.”

“Correction, ‘former teacher’.”

The tense air between them had long been dissipated, and the two had fallen into a much easier conversation. Byleth felt herself relaxing, and the unease that she initially carried from before was gone. What replaced it was the warmth she had long associated with Edelgard.

“Byleth,” Edelgard called.

“Yeah?”

“It seems that we have a case of slight miscommunication, what with me calling you ‘my dearest friend’ despite being betrothed to you.”

“Now that I think about it, we started off that way, didn’t it? Being each other’s dearest friend.”

Edelgard nodded. “I suppose so. Although I do have to admit my affections for you had been with me as far back as our days at the Academy. I wasn’t entirely settled on being just friends with you.”

Byleth smiled. “Oh, El. You had a schoolgirl crush on me? That’s embarrassing.”

Edelgard swatted at Byleth shoulder. “Stop that.”

Byleth chuckled. “Will do, Your Majesty.”

Edelgard sighed and took Byleth’s hand in hers. “I’ll try being a bit more expressive, for both our sakes. I want you to know, Byleth, that you are special to me in more ways than one. I may not say it outright, but I confidently want you, need you.”

“If it’s too much for you, El, then I’m alright with knowing just that. I was just curious and confused, that’s all.”

“We do need to talk more, don’t we?”

“Hm. Indeed, we do. Otherwise it’ll be trouble for the both of us.”

The two shared a laugh at that. Edelgard leaned on her beloved’s shoulder, and Byleth took to embracing her.

“Say, El.”

“Hm?”

“Why don’t we start with something simple when it comes to what we call each other?”

“You’re already calling me by my nickname. That’s good enough for me.”

“What about you? Don’t tell me you’re reverting to calling me ‘Professor’.”

“What? No.” Edelgard huffed. “Let me see…”

“El, you have to be quick about this.”

“Be patient.” Edelgard pondered for a bit, then she rose to face Byleth as she thought of her answer. “Byleth, how does ‘my light’ sound to you?”

Byleth turned her gaze to the ceiling as she imagined how it would feel like hearing it from Edelgard. “Cute. Very endearing. Although I don’t think I am that much bright of a person to fully embody that. People liken me to a brick wall.”

“You certainly light up my life.”

Upon hearing those words, Byleth’s lips quivered, and she fell into a fit of giggles and snickers. Edelgard frowned at her, which further fueled Byleth’s mirth.

“I told you I’m not good with this!” Edelgard fumed.

“Well, I…gosh, El.” Byleth worked to calm herself down. “My expectations for you were quite low, but…holy—”

“Byleth, you are not helping.”

“Alright, I’ll stop. I’m fine with you calling me your light, but your reasoning behind it will forever stick with me, I’m afraid.”

“Fine,” Edelgard said defeatedly. “But you have to keep this between us.”

“My lips are sealed, El.” She frowned at the doubtful lilac eyes in front of her. “I’m not going to tell Dorothea, I swear.”

“I’ll take your word for it, my light.”

It was settled, then. The two left the office to join their friends at dinner, and Byleth felt the fog in her head had cleared up a bit. She still has much to discover with her newly-beating heart, but at least she now knows where she stands when it came to Edelgard.

_“My light”. Sounds nice._

**Author's Note:**

> Alternate summary: the author has thoughts about Edelgard calling Byleth her "dearest friend" in the S-Support and decides to write about it to vent lmao


End file.
